I am seemingly a collection of differences; a mountain man living on the plains, a small town boy living in the city, and a simple soul working in a high-tech environment. I love being outside, but work inside, quick to cry at a Kodak commercial, but with a military background. But most of all, I am the father of a wonderful boy with Cerebral Palsy.

Jun 28, 2007

So what I'm hoping is for Paris Hilton to suddenly decide to join the line for an iPhone in Manhattan, and the two incredibly dense media clouds assigned to those respective stories will find themselves pulled into each other and ripped apart by gravitational forces like colliding galaxies. Just a stray thought perusing the news on iDay minus 1.

Jun 18, 2007

I won't be around for a couple of days, we are going to Children's Hospital first thing in the morning for surgery on Skyler.

He is going to have a G-Tube inserted into his stomach. This is so we can provide him with extra nutrition and get some weight on him. He is pretty skinny because it takes so much work for him to eat. And he will need some more weight on him before his surgery in November to straighten his spine.

So, see you all on the other side, and we will take all the good vibes/well wishes you all have to spare!

Got this from Johnny Yen, what is the dumbest question you have ever been asked?

There are so many it is hard to pick just one. But for sheer stupidity, I have to go back to the year I graduated from High School. I worked the best job I have ever had, on the road crew opening and taking care of the road up to the top of Mt Evans.

Mt Evans is the highest road in North America, going up to 14,200 feet. We start trying to open it around the end of May, generally having to close it a couple of times during the summer due to snowfall.

Here is a picture taken from the top around August.

There is an entrance at Echo Lake that is the start of the road to the top, where we would drive up to, and then start up to where we ended the previous days work in the snowblower and bulldozer.

Here is the gate area, taken before the clearing of the road begins.

This is the scene of the stupidest question ever, uttered by Ma and Pa from the flatlands from the window of the Winni-bego:

Jun 13, 2007

From the Rocky Mountain News this morning:In this image released by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology & Paleoanthropology in Beijing today, an artists impression of a newly discovered Gigantoraptor dinosaur is seen with other smaller dinosaurs. Fossilized bones uncovered in the Erlian Basin of northern China's Inner Mongolia region show the Gigantoraptor erlianensis was about 26 feet in length and weighed 3,000 pounds, said Xu Xing, a paleontologist at the Institute. The discovery of the giant, birdlike dinosaur indicates a more complicated evolutionary process for birds than originally thought, scientists said.

Jun 7, 2007

The Olympic Games in 2012 will be a "magnet" for sexual activity and could lead to a plague of infectious diseases, it has been warned.

The Government is now being urged to use the Games to promote sexual health and condom use and warn people of the risks amid the influx of visitors to Britain.

The Terrence Higgins Trust told the Health Service Journal that competitors at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, got through a quarter of a million condoms during a 10-day period.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up a minute there Spankey. A quarter of a million Jimmy Hats in Salt Lake Fucking City!!!

And at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, an extra 20,000 condoms had to be ordered after the initial supply of 70,000 ran out, the charity said.

What happened to that theory of taking it easy and resting before the big event? Or was fucking like a monkey on crack the big event?

The charity's head of policy, Lisa Power, told the journal: "Past experience shows that the Olympics are a magnet for sexual as well as sporting activities and it's important that we plan to prevent a negative impact on the sexual health of east London."

Kind of gives a new meaning the the the Latin phrase "Citius, altius, fortius" meaning "swifter, higher, stronger", doesn't it?

Some of you who have known me awhile are familiar with this story. I have shared their story a couple of times, but have just recently found it on YouTube. Ironman Videos has signed an agreement with YouTube, so it's OK to download and share.

I don't really toss around the term Hero too often, and I don't really have that many people that I would call a true hero. But Dick Hoyt makes me want to be a better dad, and makes me want to try harder for Skyler.

When I run with Skyler, I know just a little bit about how Dick feels. He is truly amazing.

Enjoy these videos. The best part to me comes at the end of the first one where Al Troutwig, the narrator, talks about the meaning of life.

I have watched this over 100 times I'll bet, and still can't make it through without getting emotional.

Stole this from Cheer, who stole it from Kristi, who stole it from Lulu.. You all know the drill!

Google on your first name and then needs to find out what wisdom is returned. Since Skylersdad just returns my own blog ramblings, here is my given name of Christopher:

1.Christopher needs to be eliminated. And he can't just be shot, or turned in -- he has to be rubbed out in a completely clever way that's fitting for a ...What the fuck?!? Who did I piss off?

2. At age 18 he was wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Chris desperately needs legal and investigative help!This isn't starting out too great now is it?

3. Christopher needs Tech Support.No, not so much really...

4. We need to focus on what's important-- paying attention to our children, ... Aug 9: Christopher Walken announces his intention to run for President of the ...OK, so now you all know that I am actually Christopher Walken. Sorry to have misled you all this time.

5. It is now abundantly clear to me: Christopher needs a P. A. (personal assistant) to take care of "the little things," thereby freeing him up to handle world ...So on top of everyone knowing I am really Christopher Walken, now everyone knows I have a "little thing". Will this meme never end?

Jun 2, 2007

I have been putting off responding to Johnny Yens tag about music, and what was popular the year you graduated. The reason for my procrastination is that I am such a music weirdo... I like some things that most normal people enjoy, but most of my music preferences are not anything that anyone has ever heard of. Music has never changed my life in any way, but there are memories I would like to share.

So what I will do here is give you the top 5 live performances that I have seen, or have been part of.

5. 1982, Bob Seger tour that came through Denver stopping at the old McNichols arena. Seger's sax player was named Alto Reed (yeah, you heard me) and he closed an exceptionally high energy concert with Hollywood Nights. Alto is dancing like a maniac while playing, does a spin kick and knocks the peg that holds the top of the grand piano out. The top slams down on the piano to a huge crash, and everyone gasps. Alto doesn't miss a beat, jumping up on top of the piano to continue his dance and jam.

4. 1977, Fleetwood Mac came to Hawaii when I was stationed at Pearl Harbor, to play in a small arena that was on the campus of the U of Hawaii. The place held maybe 7000, and we had third row seats to see Stevie Nicks when she was still hot. This was the Rumors tour, and was wonderful.

3. 1980, the "Whats their name anyway" singers. This was a small singing group that I belonged to that was just for fun, did a lot of charity gigs, and we were playing at the local Elks Club. We sang a song by Kenny Rogers called Old Man, and it really got to some of the folks in the audience. I didn't realize until that moment how powerful the lyrics to that song were.

2. 1987 or so, The Indigo Girls came to town and played at the Paramount Theater. They were just starting to make it big, but played in a venue that was one of the old great movie theaters that had been renovated for music performances. Acoustics were phenomenal, and Amy and Emily played without anyone else in the band. Just them and their wooden friends and their beautiful harmonies.

1. 1975, my senior year. I was from a small town school, in a AA league. That year at the beginning of the school year, all of the music teachers got together and picked out 5 Christmas tunes that they would teach to their choral groups. So that Christmas all of the schools in the metro league got together and put on a Christmas concert at a great venue in Denver called the rainbow Music hall. The combined schools made up a choral group of about 600, and the effect was my favorite music memory ever. That many voices has such power, and everyone felt that they had been part of something that was special.